NMC Proposes 3-Year Rotatory Headship System for Medical College Departments

New Delhi, The National Medical Commission (NMC) has proposed to introduce three-year rotatory headship for departments in medical colleges among eligible faculty members who satisfy promotion requirements based on seniority and who hold a postgraduate medical degree.

In draft amendments to the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations 2023, the NMC has also proposed to add MS as a feeder broad specialty qualification for a few of the super-specialty courses - for example, MCh in Neurosurgery, MCh in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and other MCh courses.

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The draft amendments were published in the official gazette on May 30, and the NMC is seeking feedback from stakeholders including students, faculty, and the medical fraternity on the amendments.

Under the current 2023 regulations, each department is headed by a professor - who is the head of department.

"The post of the Head of Department will be rotated every three-years amongst professors and associate professors who hold medical postgraduate degree, based on seniority in the department," the NMC said in the proposal.

This proposal has arisen amid requests from faculty associations from several medical colleges and academic bodies who have called for a more equitable administrative structure. The proposal has the aim of adding fairness and opening up possibilities for younger and qualified faculty to engage in leadership.

Both the Faculty Association of AIIMS , Delhi, and the Faculty Association of PGI Chandigarh publically expressed strong concern regarding the continued delay of the long proclaimed law of rotatory headship in these top health education institutions in April.

A General Body Meeting of FAIMS had occurred on April 16 and the General Body Meeting following the faculty association at PGI Chandigarh on April 17, 2023.

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"Both the bodies unanimously voiced that the rotatory headship system, along with the collegium system, is essential for promoting a fair, transparent, and democratic governance structure within their institutions," the two bodies had said in a joint statement.

In 2023, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare formally declared the rotatory headship policy had to be put back in question at AIIMS, Delhi and the PGI Chandigarh, without fail it had to be implemented, by letter, by June 2024.

Yet almost a year later, and after repeated requests to the Faculty Associations, the public letter from FAIMS, and its partners, believe nothing has been done towards enforcement.

IF the regulation is approved, they will be called the 'Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations , 2025'.

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